If he’s not miserable he should be
Trump just can’t catch a break. Chris Wallace of Fox News asked him at the end of his interview the other day how he sees his presidency.
“I think I was very unfairly treated,” Trump responded. “From before I even won, I was under investigation by a bunch of thieves, crooks. It was an illegal investigation.”
Well…but…I mean…a presidency isn’t primarily about the mood of the president, it’s about bigger things. I don’t think Wallace was asking “has it been fun for you?”
Donald Trump is a psychologically broken, embittered, and deeply unhappy man. He is so gripped by his grievances, such a prisoner of his resentments, that even the most benevolent question from an interviewer—what good parts of your presidency would you like to be remembered for?—triggered a gusher of discontent.
I’m not sure that’s because he’s deeply unhappy though. I’d love to think he is, but I don’t think his saying “I was very unfairly treated” is a sign of that. I think that’s more a sign of his grandiosity and self-focus than of misery. Deeply furious, yet, but deeply unhappy…I’m skeptical.
Such a disposition in almost anyone else—a teacher, a tax accountant, a CEO, a cab driver, a reality-television star—would be unfortunate enough. After all, people who obsess about being wronged are just plain unpleasant to be around: perpetually ungrateful, short-tempered, self-absorbed, never at peace, never at rest.
It’s the self-absorbed bit that really counts. Can you think of anything more boring to be absorbed by than the self of Donald Trump? But more seriously, it’s the complete indifference to everyone else. The solipsism. Imagine being self-absorbed and being Donald Trump – it would be like being absorbed by an old grapefruit rind or something.
The fact that he is devoid of any moral sensibilities or admirable human qualities—self-discipline, compassion, empathy, responsibility, courage, honesty, loyalty, prudence, temperance, a desire for justice—means he has no internal moral check; the question Is this the right thing to do? never enters his mind.
It also means he has nothing of interest to think about or care about, it means he lives in a desert of nothingness.
One senses in Donald Trump no joy, no delight, no laughter. All the emotions that drive him are negative. There is something repugnant about Trump, yes, but there is also something quite sad about the man. He is a damaged soul.
One doesn’t just “sense” it – it’s completely obvious. We know perfectly well there is no joy or laughter in Trump because he makes it extremely clear.
I might find Trump sad if he weren’t in the most powerful position on the planet actively working to destroy civilization because of the very qualities the author cites. It’s sad that he’s our president, and that there’s a large and vocal (and armed) minority in this country that supports him, but there’s nothing sad about him.
I think it would be boring to be absorbed by any self – even my self, and I’m interested in my interests and activities. But Donald Trump has to top the pinnacle for the absolute worst person to be absorbed in. (Followed in close order by several narcissistic members of the Trump family and a contingent of narcissistic trans women).
So self absorbed he could have been named SpongeDon Fatpants.
This is going to sound strange but bear with me. Trump adores adulation and praise, obviously. But he also gets a weird kind of enjoyment out of the idea that he is persecuted and even hated.
He sees the hate as a kind of inverse praise – it’s jealousy or envy of his awesomeness rather than any kind of disgust at him or his actions.
And persecution backs up his idea that he is a disrupter, a bringer of his business acumen (strong business sense, beautiful business sense, like you’ve never seen before) to government. He’s ferreting out all those people trying to stop him because they are evil and anti-Trump (but I repeat myself). Which of course means he’s the stable genius and they are bitter, jealous fools.